Gretzky, Lemieux, Jagr, Selanne, Savard, Sundin, Forsberg, Fleury, Kurri, Housley, Palffy, Salming and Stastny are some of the NHL greats who have worn the JOFA emblem proudly upon their foreheads during some of the highest scoring and most important seasons and careers in NHL history. This blog discusses the JOFA helmet, the different models, who men who wore them, their significance, where to buy and sell them, how to fix and modify them, and why they are icons of hockey excellence.

May 26, 2012

Jaromir Jagr Signature JOFA 390

With avid eBay searching, you come across some things you just can't pass up. Finding this new, Jaromir Jagr signed JOFA 390, with tags, certificate, and picture of him signing it, sold by a rather naive seller; I had to get it!

Here, scanned from an actual picture; Jagr signs the helmet with a silver metallic Sharpie. Although everything is new on the helmet, it seems Jagr insisted on ripping of the 390 bumper; just as he did on all of his helmets.

Originally, the helmet was without a half shield; but with a little more searching, and patience, I found this lightly used pro stock vintage ITECH half shield. You can tell it's pro stock by the logos, and the holes drilled into the sides for fixed mounting without straps.

With a little more investigation, noticing that the pro stock shield doesn't fit without forcing the front piece to bend; I found Jagr, or his equipment managers, drilled a set of holes about a half inch forward so that the holes meet up properly. So with careful measurements, knowing I won't be coming across another 15 year old pro stock ITECH shield any time soon, I drilled the holes and mounted the shield.

This helmet will be a part of my collection for years to come; I have not seen another like it!